Ethnobotanical Survey on Plants Used in Mai Municipality of Ilam District, Eastern Nepal
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https://doi.org/10.3126/banko.v30i2.33476 Banko Janakari, Vol 30 No. 2, 2020 Pp 11‒35 Ethnobotanical survey on plants used in Mai Municipality of Ilam district, eastern Nepal K. R. Bhattarai1 This study was aimed to document medicinal plant species, their utilization and methods to treat common ailments by traditional healers in Churiya region of Ilam district, eastern Nepal. This study would contribute positively to the field of biodiversity conservation, phytochemistry and ethnopharmacology. Ethnobotanical information were collected in 2016 based on semi-structured questionnaire with key informant interview. Data were evaluated and expressed in terms of number and percentage. A total of 116 medicinal plants belonging to 61 families were reported to treat 76 different ailments categorized into 18 groups. The highest numbers of plants were used to treat digestive system disorders. The most medicines were prepared as the form of paste from leaves or tender shoots and administrated orally. Of the documented plants, 5 species were reported with novel uses and 7 were newly reported as ethnomedicinal plants in Nepal. Besides medicine, 111 species were utilized additionally for food, fodder, socio-cultural events and environmental use. People of the area less frequently use traditional herbal therapies. Due to lack of proper collection, conservation and cultivation practices, some plant species are at risk of extinction.Thus, sustainable harvesting and access to benefit sharing help to improve livelihood and conserve biodiversity. Key words: Ailment, Churiya, ethnobotany, livelihood, medicinal plant he continuous war against disease and plant diversity that benefits the local communities illness has been fought by man from the (Luitel et al., 2014). Over 2,500 plant species Tbeginning of human civilization to present are medicinal in Nepal (Ghimire, 2008; Bhatt & date. For the victory of the war and maintenance Kunwar, 2020) which are used in the traditional of health, various plant-based medicines have systems of medicine. The uses are associated with been used since the early days (Ghani, 2013). diverse ethnic groups of the country residing in From time immemorial, many medicinal plants are diverse geographical ranges, and the knowledge used as folk medicine for the treatment of various is transferred orally through grenrations (Adhikari ailments in Nepal and rest of the world. Globally, et al., 2019). However, the new generation does about 30,000 to 70,000 plant species are used not seem willing to continue their local healing medicinally, and in developing world, 70-80% of tradition since it neither generates sustainable the population depend upon plants for their primary income nor offer any career development scheme. health care (WHO, 2002). Similarly, at least 7,000 In addition to documenting the traditional medical compounds in the modern pharmacopoeia knowledge related to medicinal plants, scientific are derived through ethnobotanical surveys from validation of the healing systems is required for the plants mainly based on the folk medicine of protecting the intellectual property rights of the native people (Coe & Anderson, 1996). particular community (Aryal et al., 2016). Nepal is rich in its biological and cultural diversity. In Nepal, ethnobotanical research started from The documentation of ethnobotanical knowledge eastern Nepal with the publication of a paper on helps in the preservation of indigenous culture and medicinal and food plants by Banerji in 1955. contribute to the conservation and management of Since then, many scientists have covered different 1 Department of Plant Resources, Kathmandu, Nepal. E-mail: [email protected] 11 Banko Janakari, Vol 30 No. 2 Bhattarai communities in different geographical area. A west on the north, next to the Terai) to the upper number of studies such as Oli et al. (2005), Acharya hilly belt of the Himalayan region with the altitude & Pokhrel (2006), Gachhadar (2006), Maden et al. ranging from 150 m to 3636 m above the mean sea (2008), Poudel (2009), Gautam (2011), Limbu & level (amsl). The average annual temperature is Rai (2013), Bhattarai & Khadka (2016), Shrestha 200C, and the average annual rainfall is 2500 mm et al. (2016), Uprety et al. (2016), Bhattarai (2017), with more than 90% of relative humidity during Parajuli (2017), Bhattarai (2018), Chaudhary et al. January-October (Sharma, 2000). The tropical to (2020) and Pradhan et al. (2020) have documented alpine vegetation is found in the district with forest ethnobotanical information from eastern Nepal coverage of about 55% (DFRS, 2015). based on different communities. However, many communities in different parts of the nation are still either unexplored or little explored. Most of the ethnomedicinal studies conducted in the recent years in Nepal have only documented whether the community people have knowledge about the use of plant or not, but have not mentioned about the recent practices of the use of these plants as medicines. Though they have knowledge about the traditional medicine, they may prefer modern medicine. More recent data suggest that the use of traditional medicine in some Asian and African countries is substantially lower and is declining (Oyebode et al., 2016). I hypothesized that the people in Danabari of Mai Fig. 1: Map showing the location of the study area municipality, Ilam have specialized knowledge on the utilization of medicinal plants, because The study was conducted in Danabari area within the settlement area is rich in plant diversity with Mai municipality situated in the southern part diverse ethnic communities. I also expected that of Ilam district (Figure 1). The municipality is the knowledge on ethnomedicine is declining in surrounded by Deumai and Ilam municipalities on young generatin as the community is affected the north, Suryodaya municiplaity on the north-east, by urbanization and cultural transformation. Jhapa district on the south-east and Mangsebung The present study, therefore, aims to enlist the and Chulachuli rural municipalitieson the west. ethnomedicinal plants and the methods/technique The total area of the municipality is 264 sq km with to manage common ailments by the traditional 33,210 population. Danabari stretches towards healers among the Magar-dominated community north from the east of Kankai Mai River at an in Ilam district. Besides, emphasis had been also average altitude of 200 m to 400 m amsl in the given for the multiple utilization of medicinal Churiya region. The area is inhabited by diverse plants and evaluation of ethno medicinal group of people like Chhetri, Brahmin, Magar, knowledge status in young generations. Limbu, inmigrants from different places of Ilam and other districts as well as indigenous people Materials and methods like Meche, Dhimal, Danuhar, Rajbanshi, Tharu, Study area Jhangad, Darai, etc. (DDC, 2015); Magar being the dominant ones. The forest resources in this Extending over an area of 1,703 sq km, Ilam is area are under great threat due to rapid population a hilly district situated about 600 Km east from growth, deforestation, habitat encroachment, over Kathmandu, in Province No. 1 of Nepal (Figure 1). grazing and over exploitation, but still the eastern It is located between 260 40' - 270 08' N latitudes and Churiya has been regarded as a rich place in terms 870 40' - 880 10' E longitudes. The district stretches of vegetation and floristic diversity (Oli et al., from the lower belt of Terai (flat land stretching all 2005). along the southern border with India) and Chure (a stretch of Siwalik hill extending from east to 12 Bhattarai Banko Janakari, Vol 30 No. 2 Data collection and analysis that different parts of the same plants were used for different purpose (food, food-additives, This study was conducted among the key fodder, fuel, different materials, socio-cultural informants between Feb-July, 2016 by use, environmental use and poison) and for the using semi-structured questionnaire. Prior to treatment of different ailments. Among the total documentation of ethnomedicinal information, medicinal plant species, 5 species were used only a number of open discussions and interactions as medicine whereas 111 species were used for were organized among the pre-informed people different other purposes besides medicine. Of of Danabari in order to acquire knowledge the total plants with other uses, 40 species (20%) about the medicinal plants found in the locality were used as food (fruits, curries and pickles); and also to dcocument the ethnomedicinal 8 species (4%) as food additives (condiments, information. After that, field survey was carried souring agent and flavours); 48 species (24%) out with the help of the local people to collect as fodder and forage; and 33 species (17%) as information on the available medicinal plants and materials (furniture, agricultural tools, household their conservation status. The informants were containers, musical instruments, rope, ink, etc.); selected randomly to document the knowledge and 13 species (7%) as fuel. Similarly, 31 species about the medicinal plants in detail. The (16%) were used either as sacred plants or used in collected plant specimens were photographed, various socio-cultural events; 21 species (11%) and some of them were collected and preserved as hedge, ornamental use and also for erosion as herbarium specimens. The reported use of control; and the rest 2 species (1%) as poison to the medicinal plants and ailments treated were control pests of plants and livestock (Figure 2). grouped into major categories following Cook (1995), and compared with the national and international literature. The data were entered in the Microsoft Office Excel 2016 Software to analyze the information regarding plant families, their habit, habitat, parts used, preparation type, mode of application, ethnomedicinal uses and other uses; data were expressed in terms of number and percentage. The plants were first identified following the nomenclature of APG III (The Plant List, 2013), and the reported uses were verified by using the available literature of Nepal (Manandhar, 2002; Baral & Kurmi, 2006; Kunwar et al., 2010; Malla et al., 2015; Uprety et al., 2016; Adhikari et al., 2019; Ambu et al., Fig.